Lalit Gupta
Unlike many contemporary creative visual artists who remain unsung and unknown in their immediate communities, the Jammu based Dev Dass ‘the painter’ who passed away on 6th June, 2015 will be remembered as a ‘painter in residence’ who diligently served various ‘artistic’ needs of Jammu’s civil society as well as the State.
During an active career of for more than seventy years, artistic oeuvre of Dev Dass testifies to his multivalent talents and skills as an artist. He specialized in making drawings and illustrations for newspapers, journals, books, to painting pictures of gods, goddesses, stories from mythology, portraits of eminent personalities, military heroes and common citizens, picturesque landscapes or rendering monuments, forts, palaces on canvas and other surfaces and also large murals that adorn public buildings.
Dev Dass was born to the family of Lala Shiv Prasad and Jamuna Devi in the year 1934. His father, a goldsmith belonged to the village of Sarore which is located 20 kilometers south of Jammu.
He studied up to 9th standard from Snatan Dharam Sabha School. In 1947, when due to the unrest schools were closed, he took lessons in drawing from Master Krishan Lal and Sansar Chand Ji Baru, the well known painter of Jammu. After the situation in the state became normal, he joined Government Technical School at Jammu as an art student. But after the death of his father he could not continue the art education. At the tender age of 16 years, being the eldest male member of the family, there was no choice for him than to bear the responsibility. Thus began his struggle to make two ends meet. Since he was naturally drawn to visual art; of drawing and painting, he made it a mission of his life to make his calling of the heart as a vocation.
His first job was that of a cinema painter at Hari Talkies. Here he made posters, banners and painted walls of the town to publicize films that were screened at the Talkie. After sometimes, when he got a job of Civilian Painter in Army and moved to Kolkata on posting with his unit. Here he won several prizes and appreciation certificates in Army competitions.
In 1954, he left the job in army and came back to Jammu. He decided to be a freelance artist, thus, started the life-long struggle of to live life as an artist in Jammu, the artistic hinterland of the state as well as the country.
In a situation when even today to be freelancer in any of artistic fields in the state or in other parts of the country remains a challenge, one has only to imagine the scenario half a century ago and admire his resolve to eke out living out of art.
Here one has to make a clear distinction between the socio-cultural conditions that informed Jammu and Kashmir divisions of the state. In Kashmir, the freelance artists were able to sell local landscapes in water colors to tourists especially Europeans and English, who acquired these as souvenirs to be taken back home.
While a freelance artist in Jammu was mainly dependent on local demands only. These included sigh boards, portraits, illustration for the B.Ed. students’ projects, paintings for army—the battle scenes, particular locations associated with army units glorious war efforts, heroes etc.
Devi Das the artist, who had opened a ‘Painter’s Shop’, was available to citizens of Jammu town and even to the outside clients for all such big and small jobs.
He was married to Kaushalya Devi in 1958. But not able to make two ends meet as a freelancer, he once again tried a stint in a government job as an Artist on daily wage in Information Department of J&K Government.
Soon he left that job also. He continued to make posters, sign boards, hoardings, and portraits for the Government Departments, general market and took contracts to paint large panels in various stalls in Industrial Exhibitions held twice in an year: Srinagar in summers and at Jammu in winters (many artists also took similar contracts, these included V.R. Khajuria, Jio painter, Vijay Gupta, T.S. Batra and others).
Dev Dass’s role as an artist was not only limited to commissions but he also contributed to the society in form of painting curtains for Rama Lila performances, especially the one staged at Dewan Mandir.
As far as the artistic oeuvre of Dev Dass is concerned, the portrait painting emerges as his forte in a body of work which understandably shows quite a variety of subject matter.
The demands of clients, their specific requirements, the definite locations—all have been Dev Dass’s guide for selecting the subject matter and the content of his paintings. But it is in the works where he is asked or finds possibility of painting scenes from rural or everyday life, Dev Dass shows ingenious use of imagination in composing small artifacts true to minute details. Such works may be it a scene around the Bhimgarh fort of Reasi, or any other important historical landmark, or a Gujjar dwelling, or a wedding scene—he faithfully brought in the ethnic details, feel of people and landscapes.
His inclination to experiment with new ideas was also seen in some of the works done in modernist idiom especially when he was invited to artist camps.
Along with conceiving tableaux for Republic Day celebration at Delhi, he has also successfully executed murals for Directorate of School and Heritage School, Jammu. These stand out for use of modern materials like mosaic tiles and fiber glass. But it is in the style of romantic symbolism, that Devi Das uses tools of realism to finds expression for his creative ideas and interpretations, be it of a poetic couplet of master poet like Ghalib or a narration of mythological event or story or simple an allegory of life.
Even in his last days, confined to a wheel chair due a back problem, he humming quietly tunes of ecstasy and rhythm continued to paint, his ideas, feelings and emotions—all that merited his attention and indulgence as a painter.
The artistic legacy of Dev Dasss will go on living in his sons and a daughter, who all are accomplished visual and performing artists.
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